The degrees are best differentiated by looking at the credit hours they entail. Besides the Liberal Arts and Bible courses required, the breakdown for each major is as follows:
|
BA-CS |
BS-CS |
BS-SD |
| Liberal Arts |
44 |
44 |
44 |
| CS Core |
45 |
43 |
45 |
| Other |
18 (any minor) |
17 (embedded math minor) |
18 (extra CS) |
| Remaining Bible |
8 |
8 |
8 |
| Free Electives |
5 |
8 |
5 |
| Total Credits |
120 |
120 |
120 |
A strong aptitude for math is required for the CS-BS and soft. dev. degrees. The CS-BA degree also requires good analytical and problem-solving abilities.
We have observed very little, if any, difference in the jobs available for these three options. However, students wishing to pursue graduate work in computer science are recommended to choose the BS-CS option since most graduate comp. sci. programs require the same math courses required in the BS-CS major.
Related Degrees
Degrees offered by other departments that require computer science courses:
-
Cybersecurity from the Information Systems Department requires 24 hours of CS credit. This degree is for students who want a career securing computer systems.
-
Data Science from the Math Department requires 17 hours of CS credit. This degree is for students who want a career applying mathematics and programming to uncover useful information from large amounts of data.
-
Computer Engineering from the Engineering and Physics Department requires 23-29 hours of CS credit. This degree is for students who have a dual interest in hardware and software design with an emphasis on embedded systems.
-
Information Systems (IS) from the Information Systems Department requires 3 hours of CS credit. This degree emphasizes using technology to solve business problems rather than developing algorithms and software.
